What brand expansion tank's been fitted 1st and 2nd time? Got same issue but mine went from slight steam into coolant fountain in about 2 weeks time very to quickly🙄
Great to see a channel run in a fresh breezy style by a young unpretentious enthusiast. Was going to buy an SLK350 but you've just about sold me on the Z4 e85. Now trying to decide between the 3.0i and the 3.0si. Have subscribed pronto. Pls keep up the good work.
I've got a 3.0i and had a ECU tune to get it to 3.0si hp level (extra 30hp). You don't notice the extra 30hp at normal speeds and the extra hp is all at the top end so you have to ring its guts to get anything. So, you could save your money and just get a 3.0i then a tune if you want.
All these bits of info you share are a brilliant 'heads up ' for those who have Z4 & people like myself searching for the right spec car , ....... the expansion tank , something else to put on my list of things to double check when looking over thd car , great stuff Joel , really appreciate you letting us know these things m8 👍 in glad to hear its all sorted now , when I saw the title i thought oh! know, please dont let it be something serious, bc you've had it a couple of years now I believe & apart from a couple things , that were easy enough to fix, the cars still going well,. 👍
Glad to hear Joel that your Z4 is repaired and back on the and I hope you have no more issues with it mate. It maybe interesting for you to do a comparison video of your Z4 comparing what it was like you you first got it to how it is now and the mechanical issues that have arrisin since you purchased it. I have heard of some of the common issues with the Z4's but don't know how true they are or if it depends more in how they are drove and looked after.
The expansion tank problem is a VERY common issue across all BMW's. Sounds like the mechanic who replaced your ET didnt get the hoses clicked into place correctly when installing the new ET.
Good to see u back on the road mate. Here's to many trouble free miles for u.🤞🤞🤞Not sure if many people are aware of this but I'm looking into waterless coolant soon. Not cheap but not mega expensive. As it says, contains no water so no oxygen either, meaning no expansion in system at all when hot. U can actually remove cap whist at temperature with no I'll affects at all.
I had a BMW 318touring and that had to have an expansion bottle replaced due to leaks. Then I bought a 2004 Z4 2.2 and that too had to have a new expansion bottle, I still have and like the car though the roof motor needs sorting. Oil and water leaks seem to be part of BMW ownership. When I mentioned this to the wife, the next time we visited the BMW dealership in Portsmouth we had to laugh, because every parking space in their car park had an oil stain in it LOL.
You have to be on top of coolant leaks, closed systems should require minimal or zero top ups. Leaks can be difficult to trace though, I have had two cars with radiator leaks that took months to locate as they were tiny, but once you find them fix them asap. It's much cheaper than a head gasket.
Relevant video! - i'm having coolant issues too. The low coolant light comes on, and the expansion tank empties itself, but the car doesn't actually overheat. I can see water around the top edge of my expansion tank, but not sure if it's a tank leak, cap leak, or a hose leak. Expansion tanks can be bought from 30 quid online, wondering if i should just have a go at changing it and seeing what happens.
I'll try to be quick. Water is not a proper coolant to add to a BMW engine. BMW coolant has additives that prevent corrosion and adds lubrication. This is especially important for your radiator. Your main concern if your engine overheats is a blown head gasket. If that happens you might want to consider selling your Z for parts. The water pump impeller and pump pulley are made of plastic. With time and milage they will fail. The other rubber hoses may fail as well. In other words, the best approach is to renew the entire cooling system. i.e., expansion tank, all hoses, thermostat, water pump preferable replaced with a stainless steel one, BMW coolant every two years and if necessary a new radiator if you are going to keep your Z. Since you are not, you may continue to have cooling problems the longer you keep it. Good luck.
On my E46 and Z4 the O ring on the coolant temperature sensor caused a fair sized coolant leak, cheap fix. Fairly sure it's why the guy who sold me the Z4 was so keen to see the car gone! Irony is I was going to replace the thing anyway and already had the part :-)
Same thing happened to me in my old 3 series cab. Expansion tank exploded while driving! Weak point on BMW’s it seems using plastic that stresses over time
Generally the Z4 is not a bad old car to own considering that I have owned both 3.0l convertible and 3.0 Si coupe till date. They will need regular servicing and replacement of some component consistent with running an old car. My Z4 has a knocking noise around the differential / CV joint area that the mechanic was unable to rectify, now the noise is more prominent I will take mine in next week for further examination by my meachanic. Nice that you have got to the bottom of the problem but these are old cars.
My black z4 as had a few expansion tanks and hoses after coolant leaks I had a e46 years ago with the same problems I think BMW don't care about the quality of some of their parts.
The coolant system is the most important system on any car. If you overheat an engine it is very expensive to fix and heartbreaking and the engine is never the same. You should overhaul the coolant system every 100000 ks especially on BMW as there is lots of plastic parts that fail. Yes the parts are expensive for bits of plastic but a lot cheaper than repairing a cooked enginen
My expansion tank literally exploded a few month ago. Temp went up all of a sudden and "booom", all coolant gone in seconds. The tow guy of the ADAC told me it is a known problem. The pressure release in the cap breaks or something.
Joel, it's an older car. Things are going to get brittle and need replacing. The worst thing you can do is ignore them. Regardless of whether its a BMW Z4 or a Toyota Corolla, maintenance is part of ownership so don't fall out of love with it because it needs a part or two. In the grand scheme of things, these are very small repairs. Depending on how long its been since all your hoses were last check, this might be a great time to review all hoses for dryness or bulging at the connection points and replace what needs replacing. whats that old saying " an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." your Dad will know that one.
Ah, look at it this way, you learned a good lesson early in life. Glad it was easily sorted out. Z4 issues can cost a lot more than 130 quid as you know. Now back to enjoying the car.
I get you mate. But you have to bare in mind, that I have limited mechanical knowledge, no ramp or Jack for my car to disconnect hoses underneath it, and also not much time! Plus, if i fuck the car up by doing it myself, I’m screwed as this is my only car!
I bought a z4 after seeing your videos in July and then your dad got one as im your dads age shhhhhh ;) ha ha great fun cars but within a month things went pair shape lol started with the usual sticky steering it felt very unstable at high speeds and then the callipers started binding then the roof started getting stuck when opening it was the window on the material then the dreaded rocker cover oil leak lol all fixable but jeez I thought range rovers had a bad rep ha ha but these z4s seem to be a very poorly built roadster anyway I still enjoyed it ha ha but I only would recommend one for the summer only then sell asap before they go tits up big time and they will lol so now sold and back in my range rover must admit I missed the luxury of the rangey ha ha but glad to here yours is sorted m8 great Chanel by the way :)
That new expansion tank will go again. Should go for a genuine bmw one for about £110. I've learnt the hard way. Don't bother with meyle, febi or anything else, go to bmw.
Definitely a learning curve for me to get stuff repaired as soon as I can!
What brand expansion tank's been fitted 1st and 2nd time? Got same issue but mine went from slight steam into coolant fountain in about 2 weeks time very to quickly🙄
I’m not sure the exact brand, but not oem
Great to see a channel run in a fresh breezy style by a young unpretentious enthusiast. Was going to buy an SLK350 but you've just about sold me on the Z4 e85. Now trying to decide between the 3.0i and the 3.0si. Have subscribed pronto. Pls keep up the good work.
Thank you so much for watching and for your kind comment.
I've got a 3.0i and had a ECU tune to get it to 3.0si hp level (extra 30hp). You don't notice the extra 30hp at normal speeds and the extra hp is all at the top end so you have to ring its guts to get anything. So, you could save your money and just get a 3.0i then a tune if you want.
All these bits of info you share are a brilliant 'heads up ' for those who have Z4 & people like myself searching for the right spec car , ....... the expansion tank , something else to put on my list of things to double check when looking over thd car , great stuff Joel , really appreciate you letting us know these things m8 👍 in glad to hear its all sorted now , when I saw the title i thought oh! know, please dont let it be something serious, bc you've had it a couple of years now I believe & apart from a couple things , that were easy enough to fix, the cars still going well,. 👍
Glad you got it sorted. I had a similar issue on my first X5. I think the pipes get brittle over time and crack
Thanks. Seems like a common issue, hopefully it wont happen again whilst I’ve still got the car
You can install a cap with a valve which opens at lower pressure, that reliefs some stress from the systems. It opens at 1,4 bar instead of 2 bar
Good to know, thank you. Mine was replaced by BMW with another 2 bar after the expansion reservoir exploded.
Glad to hear Joel that your Z4 is repaired and back on the and I hope you have no more issues with it mate. It maybe interesting for you to do a comparison video of your Z4 comparing what it was like you you first got it to how it is now and the mechanical issues that have arrisin since you purchased it. I have heard of some of the common issues with the Z4's but don't know how true they are or if it depends more in how they are drove and looked after.
The expansion tank problem is a VERY common issue across all BMW's. Sounds like the mechanic who replaced your ET didnt get the hoses clicked into place correctly when installing the new ET.
Good to see u back on the road mate. Here's to many trouble free miles for u.🤞🤞🤞Not sure if many people are aware of this but I'm looking into waterless coolant soon. Not cheap but not mega expensive. As it says, contains no water so no oxygen either, meaning no expansion in system at all when hot. U can actually remove cap whist at temperature with no I'll affects at all.
That’s pretty cool!
Same issue with cracked coolant reservoir. $400.00 to fix. No problem since.
I had a BMW 318touring and that had to have an expansion bottle replaced due to leaks. Then I bought a 2004 Z4 2.2 and that too had to have a new expansion bottle, I still have and like the car though the roof motor needs sorting. Oil and water leaks seem to be part of BMW ownership. When I mentioned this to the wife, the next time we visited the BMW dealership in Portsmouth we had to laugh, because every parking space in their car park had an oil stain in it LOL.
You have to be on top of coolant leaks, closed systems should require minimal or zero top ups. Leaks can be difficult to trace though, I have had two cars with radiator leaks that took months to locate as they were tiny, but once you find them fix them asap. It's much cheaper than a head gasket.
Relevant video! - i'm having coolant issues too. The low coolant light comes on, and the expansion tank empties itself, but the car doesn't actually overheat. I can see water around the top edge of my expansion tank, but not sure if it's a tank leak, cap leak, or a hose leak.
Expansion tanks can be bought from 30 quid online, wondering if i should just have a go at changing it and seeing what happens.
If there's water at the top sounds like the cap is bad. Try that first. Then do the O ring on the coolant temperature sensor (easy).
I replaced mine two years ago, no problems since, even here in S Florida. But I was careful to get a BMW OEM unit.
I'll try to be quick. Water is not a proper coolant to add to a BMW engine. BMW coolant has additives that prevent corrosion and adds lubrication. This is especially important for your radiator. Your main concern if your engine overheats is a blown head gasket. If that happens you might want to consider selling your Z for parts. The water pump impeller and pump pulley are made of plastic. With time and milage they will fail. The other rubber hoses may fail as well. In other words, the best approach is to renew the entire cooling system. i.e., expansion tank, all hoses, thermostat, water pump preferable replaced with a stainless steel one, BMW coolant every two years and if necessary a new radiator if you are going to keep your Z. Since you are not, you may continue to have cooling problems the longer you keep it. Good luck.
On my E46 and Z4 the O ring on the coolant temperature sensor caused a fair sized coolant leak, cheap fix. Fairly sure it's why the guy who sold me the Z4 was so keen to see the car gone! Irony is I was going to replace the thing anyway and already had the part :-)
Nice to hear its sorted mate 👍
Same thing happened to me in my old 3 series cab. Expansion tank exploded while driving! Weak point on BMW’s it seems using plastic that stresses over time
Having a similar problem. Did you ever notice a puddle or anything like that?
Generally the Z4 is not a bad old car to own considering that I have owned both 3.0l convertible and 3.0 Si coupe till date. They will need regular servicing and replacement of some component consistent with running an old car. My Z4 has a knocking noise around the differential / CV joint area that the mechanic was unable to rectify, now the noise is more prominent I will take mine in next week for further examination by my meachanic. Nice that you have got to the bottom of the problem but these are old cars.
Driveshaft centre bearing?
My black z4 as had a few expansion tanks and hoses after coolant leaks I had a e46 years ago with the same problems I think BMW don't care about the quality of some of their parts.
Cooling system / radiators were much better on the older cars.
The coolant system is the most important system on any car. If you overheat an engine it is very expensive to fix and heartbreaking and the engine is never the same. You should overhaul the coolant system every 100000 ks especially on BMW as there is lots of plastic parts that fail. Yes the parts are expensive for bits of plastic but a lot cheaper than repairing a cooked enginen
My expansion tank literally exploded a few month ago. Temp went up all of a sudden and "booom", all coolant gone in seconds. The tow guy of the ADAC told me it is a known problem. The pressure release in the cap breaks or something.
Damn that’s scary!
Joel, it's an older car. Things are going to get brittle and need replacing. The worst thing you can do is ignore them. Regardless of whether its a BMW Z4 or a Toyota Corolla, maintenance is part of ownership so don't fall out of love with it because it needs a part or two. In the grand scheme of things, these are very small repairs. Depending on how long its been since all your hoses were last check, this might be a great time to review all hoses for dryness or bulging at the connection points and replace what needs replacing. whats that old saying " an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." your Dad will know that one.
Glad ya got it sorted, just hope there's no air lock, that can be worse than a split pipe or cracked tank... I think you'd know by now thou.
Yeah think we’re all good!
Good, glad to hear it, my roof is still working 100%, so everyone is happy lol
Does your car have trouble with speed bombs? Like can it go over it just fine?
I often scrape on them!
@@itsjoel T-T dangggg rip
Hey great video!! What is the name of the song running through most of the video from the start. Cheers
z4 is like any other car, needs care and maintenance.
My expansion tank cracked yesterday what a coincidence
So annoying, but luckily an affordable and simple fix
Ah, look at it this way, you learned a good lesson early in life. Glad it was easily sorted out. Z4 issues can cost a lot more than 130 quid as you know. Now back to enjoying the car.
Absolutely, could be a much worse issue!
Dude - you got to start fixing these minor issues yourself. Changing teh expansion tank is really easy.
I get you mate. But you have to bare in mind, that I have limited mechanical knowledge, no ramp or Jack for my car to disconnect hoses underneath it, and also not much time! Plus, if i fuck the car up by doing it myself, I’m screwed as this is my only car!
I bought a z4 after seeing your videos in July and then your dad got one as im your dads age shhhhhh ;) ha ha great fun cars but within a month things went pair shape lol started with the usual sticky steering it felt very unstable at high speeds and then the callipers started binding then the roof started getting stuck when opening it was the window on the material then the dreaded rocker cover oil leak lol all fixable but jeez I thought range rovers had a bad rep ha ha but these z4s seem to be a very poorly built roadster anyway I still enjoyed it ha ha but I only would recommend one for the summer only then sell asap before they go tits up big time and they will lol so now sold and back in my range rover must admit I missed the luxury of the rangey ha ha but glad to here yours is sorted m8 great Chanel by the way :)
Thanks for watching my friend. Sad to hear about your bad experience with the Z4!
That new expansion tank will go again. Should go for a genuine bmw one for about £110. I've learnt the hard way. Don't bother with meyle, febi or anything else, go to bmw.
Kinsta89 +1 for a genuine BMW tank 👍
Just replaced the rear springs on my Z4.....£300..😦
You were robbed.
Swap it for a 20 year old Porsche Boxster S with the IMS upgrade etc, and you will love it
Just filmed a Boxster s at the weekend and it was great
@@itsjoel There you go, we all want to watch the comparison videos, Boxster Vs Z4
Glad to hear your baby is ready to fight another day
Thanks Chris
is that a dead rabbit in the background, isnt it? :D ...thanks for the vid mate! :)
Haha I don’t think so 😂
*Cough* replace it with an M6 *cough*